Some thoughts on Google+

Through a combination of begging, pleading and promises of naming rights for my firstborn, I was able to procure an invite into Google+, Google's new social network, and I've been playing with it for about a day now.

I was lucky. A couple hours after I got in, Google shut invites down, citing "insane demand." As a result, I wasn't able to get everyone I know dogpiled into the service, which has limited its utility somewhat. It's a little hard to be social on a social network no one you know uses yet.

Nonetheless, I remain very impressed. It's clear that Google has put not only a lot of work into this product, but a lot of thought as well. That alone separates it in my mind from Buzz and Wave, which both felt sort of thoughtless for their own reasons.

Here's some conclusions I've drawn:

It's not just about Facebook: Well, okay it's mostly about Facebook. But with so many features, Google+ amounts to nothing less than a mighty broadside against every other company in social and mobile. Sparks, a social news feed organized around user interests, seems calculated to replace Twitter as a news reader, even if it is a little rough at the moment. Huddle is aimed at group messaging apps like Kik and GroupedIn which are now gaining popularity. There's check-in services and the ability to see photos and content from people near you, so count that as a dig on whatever Color ends up being. The group video chat feature seems like it could be a Facetime-killer, and there's even the larval stages of what might one day be a challenge to photo sharing apps like Hipstamatic and Instagram in Google+'s tight mobile photo integration and basic photo editing tools.

Google+ will grow very, very fast: It's still pretty difficult to get into Google+ at the moment but there's some evidence that once they do open it up to the public it will grow like a weed. Google appears to have built it from the ground up to be as viral as possible. For example, you can add people to your "Circles," groups of people that you know, even if they aren't yet signed up for the service. If you do, they'll recieve emails with the content you share with that Circle, and presumably will be able to go through the email to sign up for Google+ themselves. It's a really smart feature in a space where the ubiquity of your network is ultimately what keeps people using it.

Mobile is a core part of Google+: One thing that struck me as I was using the fairly excellent Android app is how much of an afterthought Facebook's Android app is. Not only does the Google+ offer basically everything you can do from a desktop, it goes farther, with deeply integrated location-based services, the ability to see nearby public posts, and a seperate group messaging app. That's a far cry from the Facebook app, which is still missing some functionality that is available on the Web and even on the iPhone. It's clear that the Goolge+ team designed the service with mobile in mind, and that might just be enough to separate it from its competitors.

That said, is it still a little rough around the edges? Yes. The link-sharing process, particularly on mobile, could use a little work, and I'd appreciate the ability to edit the teaser text it pulls from the pages I link. The stories provided in my Sparks feeds don't seem particularly relevant to me, although I can only assume this will improve once Google+ begins to learn about me and its algorithms start to penetrate the deepest recesses of my mind. There's also no Buzz integration, which is... odd, if a minor quibble because I never actually use Buzz for anything.

Still, a very impressive launch, particularly for a semi-private beta. If I worked at Facebook, I'd be very nervous right now.